Surge Battery declares highest-grade lithium clay resource in US

Surge Battery Metals (TSXV: NILI; US-OTC: NILIF) says its main lithium project in Nevada holds the highest-grade U.S. clay resource. The shares jumped. 

The initial resource for the Nevada North lithium project released on Thursday shows it contains 4.7 million inferred tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) grading 2,839 parts per million (ppm) lithium.

Shares in Surge Battery Metals soared 14% by mid-Thursday to 53¢ a share on the TSX Venture Exchange for a market capitalization of $83.9 million.

The resource estimate marks the project as “a significant lithium deposit and one of the highest-grade lithium clay deposits worldwide,” Surge Battery CEO Greg Reimer said in a news release. 

The resource for the project, 73 km northeast of Wells in the state’s north near the Utah border, was calculated using a base-case lithium cut-off grade of 1,250 ppm lithium, Surge said. 

At a higher, more stringent cut-off of 2,000 ppm, the inferred LCE resource would still surpass 4 million tonnes, with a lithium grade of 3,167 ppm, the company said. 

“At higher grade cutoffs, there are still very appreciable volumes of lithium that are largely contained in the clay horizons nearest surface,” Reimer said. 

Drill program

The resource estimate is based on 20 drill holes completed over 2022 and 2023 for a total of 2,758 metres and 1,973 samples. The two rounds of drilling identified a mineralized zone of lithium-bearing clays occupying a strike length of more than 3,500 metres and a known width of up to 950 metres, Surge said. 

A much larger drill program is planned for this year to expand the resource, which Surge Battery says only covers a portion of the project’s known footprint of mineralization. A detailed surface mapping program over the property and additional soil sampling will also be carried out. The project covers 725 mineral claims over 58 sq. km.

The company said it will work with the Bureau of Land Management this spring to determine how much disturbance can be reclaimed under a current permit. Drilling will start after receiving an exploration plan and operations permit.

Meanwhile, project metallurgical testwork is well underway with the Kemetco Research lab. Results are expected this quarter, the company said.